Their Eyes Were Watching God Allusion Analysis

Allusions to Their Eyes Were Watching God An allusion is an indirect reference to something famous or ta a person, place or happening in history. People use them every day whether its intentional or not. Most people can relate to Bible allusion because they are well known. In Zora Neal Hurston’s book “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” she uses allusions to explain the plot and Janie’s role as the protagonist. Zora Neal Hurston the stories Saul’s daughter and David, Methuselah and keys to the kingdom as allusions in her novel. The first Biblical allusion that the author makes is Saul’s daughter and David. When Janie gets into a huge fight with Joke Starks, things immediately take a turn for the worse. Janie states “Stop mixin’ up mah doing wid mah looks” (78). Janie tolerates Joe putting her down and him being self-conscious of his looks. The author states “Janie had robbed him of his illusion of irresistible maleness that all men cherish, which was terrible. The whole town was talking about Janie’s actions. This relates to Saul’s daughter and David because Saul felt jealous of David’s youth and appearance. David dances naked and Michal publicly humiliates and embarrass him. The allusion relates because each wife stripped their husbands of their manhood. …show more content…
Joe starks is trying to break Janie down both emotionally and spiritually. The author reveals “Ahm nearly forty and you’se already fifty” in a conversation between Hanie and Joe Starks (79). They were arguing over Janie being old and making little mistakes. Janie accused Joe of not being in shape and looking as good as before. Joe states “A woman stay round uh store till she get old as Methuselah” referring to Janie’s age (78). Methuselah is the oldest men in the bible; he had turned 969 before Noah built the ark. This allusion relates to the book because it’s trying to exaggerate Janie’s loss of